Slave Master Cylinder.

[rumplestiltskin]

Hi Guys

I am in the UK, have a 2002 996TT (manual)

At the weekend noticed some "sweating" on the plastic covering to the left of the battery (looking at the battery standing at the front of the car) on UK cars this is the drivers side.

There is a "bulge" in the plastic & a reservior underneath which I am informed is the clutch slave master cylinder.

So there is some moisture around the cylinder & also underneath the cylinder, not a lot but its a little wet underneath. There are wires underneath too so I assume its not corrosive fluid ??

Any ideas ? Should I get it looked at, or can I top the cylinder up in any way? Which fluid do I use as its not covered in the handbook.

Any advice on this appreciated

Thanks

R.

[Loren]

The TT clutch master cylinder uses Pentosin CHF 11 S.

Do you have a picture of the "sweating"?

[rumplestiltskin]

Hi Loren

Thanks, I guess I can pick some up from my dealer?

I will try and post a picture, its dark here in the UK now and not sure if it will come out well even taken in daylight but will do my best.

I havn't had a really good look at the cylinder, is there a lid that comes off for topping up & a level indicator to show where to top it up to?

Thanks.

R.

[Loren]

Here is a pic from a US/Canada car. Green cap is the clutch master cylinder (blue is windshield/headlight washers).

(photo courtesy of Tool Pants)

[rumplestiltskin]

Thanks Loren, thats the one. Will try & get a picture of the sweating on the plastic cover above tomorrow.

R.

[rumplestiltskin]

Loren

Would low fluid level affect the performance of the clutch at all, make it not as smooth or suchlike - any downsides to having low fluid level ?

R.

[Loren]

Well, if it were low enough or you had air in the lines then it could cause erratic actuations. In the TT the clutch master and salve cylinders operate on a separate circuit from the brakes (hence the Pentosin CHF 11 S fluid instead of brake fluid)... so, the brakes could feel fine while the clutch could feel mushy or erratic. If it is leaking then I would first find the source of the leak then once that is fixed bleed the system at the slave cylinder and top up the fluid.

[rumplestiltskin]

Quick update (if anyone is interested)

I opened up the top of the bottle & found that the fluid was almost brimmed to the rim of the bottle !

Obviously the "leak" was in fact the overfilled fluid spurting out the top of the bottle and dripping down (which explains why the plastic cover above was wet with the fluid)

I removed some fluid to the right level, cleaned everything up & its been fine since, no spillage.

So good news was its not a leak, "bad" news is that why would anyone brim a reservior like that ? Don't think there is any damage done. Not sure its even a servicable item so would it have left the factory like that? I am sure its only been doing it recently, and the car did go in for a major service a few months back, so maybe the OPC topped it up too far ?

Thanks for the help Loren - I did take some pictures but they didn't come out that well - I can post them if you want ??

R.